Senate Passes Bill To Establish Agency For Management Of Recovered Assets

The Senate on Thursday passed two key judiciary-related bills, including a landmark legislation establishing an independent agency to recover, manage and dispose of assets linked to unlawful activities.

The upper chamber approved the Legal Practitioners Act (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 965) and the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, 2026 (SB. 343) after considering the report of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters.

Chairman of the committee, Senator Adeniyi Adegbonmire (Ondo Central), presented the reports during plenary, recommending the passage of both bills.

On the Legal Practitioners Bill, Adegbonmire said the proposed legislation would repeal the existing Legal Practitioners Act, Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and establish a modern legal framework for regulating the legal profession.

“The Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters recommends that the Senate do consider and pass the bill for an Act to repeal the Legal Practitioners Act Cap. L11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, and enact the Legal Practitioners Act, 2025, to provide for the regulation of the legal profession in Nigeria and for related matters, subject to the observations, findings and amendments set out in this report,” Adegbonmire said.

He noted that the committee subjected the bill to extensive scrutiny because of its significance to Nigeria’s justice system.

“The legal profession is the guardian of the rule of law, and the primary instrument through which Nigerians access justice. The framework that governs it must be constitutionally sound, proportionate and worthy of the confidence of both the profession and the public itself,” he added.

Presenting the report on the Proceeds of Crime Act (Amendment) Bill, Adegbonmire said the legislation seeks to establish a dedicated Proceeds of Crime Recovery and Management Agency responsible for recovering, preserving, managing and disposing of assets reasonably suspected to have been derived from criminal activities.

According to him, the proposed agency would address longstanding challenges in the management of recovered assets and strengthen Nigeria’s anti-corruption framework.

“The bill addresses a genuine and long-standing gap in Nigeria’s anti-corruption architecture. Its objectives are laudable, its need is urgent, and the committee is satisfied that, with the amendments recommended in this report, it will serve the public interest well,” he said.

Following the presentation, the Senate dissolved into the Committee of the Whole, considered the clauses of both bills, adopted the committee’s recommendations and passed the legislations for third reading through a voice vote.

Commending lawmakers after the passage, Senate President Godswill Akpabio said the new agency would ensure that assets recovered from criminal activities are managed transparently and in the interest of Nigerians.

“Now we have an agency that will manage those properties for the benefit of Nigerians. I also thank my colleagues for rising to the occasion and seeing the need to conclude this,” Akpabio said.

The two bills will now be transmitted to the House of Representatives for concurrence before being forwarded to President Bola Tinubu for assent.